Exclusive | Inside the Met Gala 2025 exhibit, exploring the history and sophisticated styling of black dandyism

There’s a superfine line between showing off and showing out.That’s where the dandies dance.They’re fierce, fearless fashion plates — clotheshorses who dare to wear flashy ’fits as a form of self-expression, radiance and rebellion.The dandy aesthetic will be on parade at the Met Gala the first Monday in May, when voguish VIPs will be fabulously frocked to match this year’s dress code, “Tailored for You.”It’s a bespoke bylaw derived from the upcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” on view at the Met from May 10 through Oct.26. The sartorial celebration is a cultural and historical examination of suiting and menswear, inspired by Monica L.

Miller’s 2009 tome, “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity.” “So, what is a black dandy?” Miller, a guest curator of the exhibition, asked.“Historically, the term ‘dandy’ was used to describe someone, often a man, who is extremely devoted to aesthetics and approaches it as a lifestyle.”Over time — from slavery and servitude to the great migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the black liberation movement and into modern day — the look-at-me attire (and attitude) has created political panache, born from the marrying of African and European style traditions. “Black dandyism has become a form of visual resistance,” Shelby Ivey Christie, a fashion and costume historian, told The Post.

“The refined, sophisticated styling makes powerful statements about identity, politics, queerness, gender norms and sexuality.”Beyond the glitz of the glam gala — helmed by Anna Wintour, Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, with LeBron James as honorary chair — the exhibit explores the evolution of black style across 300 years. The exhibit is organized into 12 sections, each representing a characteristic that defines the style: Ownership, Presence, Distincti...